The Mississippi police officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart has resigned, just days after state officials cleared him of criminal wrongdoing and released bodycam footage showing the deadly encounter.
Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed Sgt. Hunter Foster’s resignation on Friday, October 23, according to the Associated Press. His departure comes four months after the June 14 shooting that killed Kohen while he was sitting on his mother’s lap inside a vehicle.
The Kohen Wiley shooting has drawn renewed scrutiny following the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s release of bodycam recordings on Thursday. The videos show officers approaching the vehicle with their weapons drawn before Foster fired into the passenger side.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation’s report cited by the Associated Press, officers were already at the Walmart investigating an unrelated incident when an employee alerted them that two women were running from the store. Police suspected the women of shoplifting diapers and other baby items.
Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, was carrying her son when she and another woman entered their vehicle in the parking lot. The second woman was driving.
Bodycam footage shows five officers approaching the car, several with guns drawn. As officers shouted commands, the driver reversed and collided with another parked vehicle before accelerating forward.
Foster positioned himself directly in front of the car with his weapon raised. As the vehicle moved toward him, its front wheels turned away, and he appeared to place his hands on the hood while moving out of its path.
The officer then opened fire, shattering the front passenger window where Kohen was sitting in his mother’s arms.
According to Action News 5, Foster fired three shots, injuring the driver and fatally striking Kohen. The vehicle continued moving after the gunfire. Another bodycam recording captured Foster telling a fellow officer that he had not seen a baby inside the car.
The Kohen Wiley shooting footage was released three days after Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office announced on October 19 that its investigation had concluded: “the use of force was justified.”
The Senatobia Police Department also stated that investigators found “insufficient evidence of criminal conduct” to present the case to a grand jury. Foster will not face state criminal charges in connection with the shooting under that decision.
In a statement following the ruling, the department acknowledged the loss of life and its effect on the community.
“We recognize the seriousness of this incident and its impact on everyone involved, their families, our officers, and the community,” the department said. “We appreciate the community’s patience throughout the review process.”
Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, defended his client’s actions. Speaking to CNN, Zummach claimed the driver was attempting to kill the five officers and maintained Foster “had no choice but to discharge his weapon.”
Kohen’s mother disputes the police account that the driver intentionally moved toward officers. She has also denied allegations that she and her friend stole diapers. According to state and county court records reviewed by the Associated Press, neither woman has been charged.
During a June news conference alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Wiley described witnessing her only child’s death.
“I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath.”
Crump criticized the officers’ response to the alleged shoplifting incident.
“They were called over a box of diapers, and a family now has to bury their baby,” Crump said in June. “You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing.”
Following Thursday’s bodycam release, the family’s legal team again challenged the state’s conclusion. Crump described the officers’ response as “excessive from the start.”
“They came out with guns drawn for a shoplifting misdemeanor,” Crump said.
The attorney also challenged the circumstances surrounding the fatal shot. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family concluded that the bullet traveled through Kohen’s body from right to left, supporting the family’s position that he was struck by gunfire from the side of the vehicle.
“The bullet that killed 1-year-old baby Kohen Wiley was not justified,” Crump said.
The video has raised additional questions about whether Foster’s decision to stand in front of the moving car contributed to the dangerous encounter.
According to Mississippi Today, six policing and use of force experts who reviewed earlier footage criticized aspects of the officers’ tactics. Their concerns included officers drawing weapons early and positioning themselves in front of the vehicle.
The outlet also reported that Senatobia Police Department policy directs officers to move out of the path of approaching vehicles. One attorney experienced in defending law enforcement cautioned that reviewing footage afterward does not necessarily reflect how an officer perceived the threat in real time.
The Kohen Wiley shooting has left his family challenging the state’s finding despite Foster’s resignation. Relatives were allowed to review the recordings privately before officials made them public on Thursday.
According to Action News 5, Kohen’s grandmother, LaSandra Williams, said she struggled to understand how the shooting could be considered justified. The family continues to maintain that the officer’s use of deadly force was unnecessary.
Kohen would have celebrated his second birthday on November 1, according to Crump. Instead, his relatives are pursuing additional accountability beyond the state’s completed criminal investigation.
Family attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner are now calling for a federal investigation into Kohen’s death. They also want Foster stripped of his law enforcement certification, which would affect his ability to work as a police officer elsewhere.
Turner said the legal team plans to petition the U.S. Department of Justice to open a separate investigation into the fatal shooting.
